Kickem

Hey guys, bought my first E55 a couple months ago and just added my first mod and thought I would share with the group. I purchased a s/c pulley and both ECU & TCU tunes from Jerry at EC and just installed today. The DIY write-ups on the forum were invaluable, so thank you to the guys that took the time!

The pulley install didn’t go quite as easy as it sounded, but I managed to get it done. Dropped the modules back in their respective spots, threw on a new belt and took the girl for a test drive. The improvement in shifting while in M mode was immediately noticeable although still not as crisp as I would have liked. Driving in S mode was still very smooth and the TCU tune didn’t detract from the luxury feel when just driving around town. After a few short pulls I headed to the freeway to let her stretch her legs and let me tell you, I can definitely feel the difference. As I merged from the onramp there was a small group of cars so I just took it slow and let them get a good distance in front of me. I was in 2nd gear in M mode and once I had a little room I started to roll the throttle on and then went WOT and somewhere between 60 and 70mph the tires broke loose and I could feel the rear end wiggling. By the time I shifted into 3rd she was still pulling like a jet on takeoff but since I was coming up on traffic fast I had to reel it back in. I don’t know what the actual hp/trq increases might be but the seat o’ my pants meter says it did what it claimed it would do.

Owning both 2005 E55 and a 2007 CTS-V I can tell you the difference between the two is like night and day. The Caddy is a lot of fun to drive because it has a 6 speed tranny but the E55 is on a whole other level when it comes to straight up brutal acceleration. Now I'm off to find some unwary victims. Lol

New pulley on the beast


Ready to roll


The CTS-V


Disclaimer: I live in Oregon and have no affiliation with any tuners in TX. J

berti_00

is this the pulley u bought from shradul..

Kickem

I don't know Shardul although I've heard him mentioned many times on the forum. I bought everything from Jerry @ Eurocharged and couldn't say if they are affiliated.

pearlpower

It's a good looking pulley for sure-not that looks are important. So far the feedback has been positive. Perhaps a safer bet vs playing the crank pulleys.

Kickem

I think the thing that attracted me to this s/c pulley the most was the DIY element (Although having a buddy and air tools are almost a must) since I like to wrench on my own cars whenever I can. Not to mention that I've read a thread or two about crank pulleys sinply falling off of cars... Yikes!

I guess time will tell if this s/c pulley holds up, but so far so good.

isellbenz

I hope it holds up!! I haven't anticipated a mod as much as I have this pulley.. I am laying back for a moment due to some unexpected expenses.. I never did get the warm and fuzzies with the crank pulley mod.. Much anticipated and thank you for the review!!

chawkins2001

Good write up. I hope it holds up, the manufacturer will not stand behind their product should something go wrong, so I hope it is a better design than their garbage crank eater pulley.

Helli217

So far mine is great. 1k miles, 3 passes at track, lots of pulls. The spring tension is a little lighter, which caused me to have to reshim after it broke in to 4 shims from 2. Otherwise it's true, and engagement is slick.

kustom2k1

Helli, yep I have to install the other 2 shims as well.

slownrusty

The CTSV has 6 lugs!?

Kickem

How did you guys know that it needed extra shims after a break in period? Did it start to perform differently or did you just pull the cover off and gauge it periodically?

mrweelr

So jealous...I want that pulley on my car now! Does Jerry have these in stock now?

kustom2k1

Mine is now stuck to the clutch, I pulled the SC belt off and will have the shims installed Monday. If you hear the pulley squeaking then you know for sure you need to add shims, checking it with a feeler gauge after running the car for a bit should be on the to do list after install. Check with Shardul for values. I kept the 2 stock ones on and one additional that came with the pulley, 2 more should do the trick.

Toadster

Wow Craig - did you just say EC won't stand behind their product?

pearlpower

He stated manufacturer, not distributor, two different things. I'm sure EC will stand behind it as they are stand up guys.

chawkins2001

EC and UPD are two different companies Toad, you know that. UPD is owned by Brooke, and EC is a distributor owned by Jerry. Jerry stands behind his work and company, Brooke and Shardul do not, they are cowards, from what it looks like so far, set up these fly by night companies, put out untested products, collect payments and when something goes wrong with a product, run and hide under a rock. Another signature move is to shift blame.


JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS, TWO MORE RTR PULLEYS FELL OFF CUTOMER CARS IN CANADA THIS WEEK. They were sold to them on 4/28, and they came off this week. How do I know, because there shop called Buckhead-imports performance for the pin kit. From the claimed 50 sold, 6 known redtooth racing pillows have come off now, that is 12%.

Just keep an eye on your blower pulley OP, word of caution brotha.

BlkE55K

The first gen CTS-V did. It was a unique bolt pattern too so makes finding wheels options a pain.

OP, I came from an 05 V and agree with you. I love my E55 so much more in every way. The V2 is a dif story.

Kickem

I'm not sure if Jerry has them in stock or not to be honest. I ordered mine about 8 weeks ago when he was running a pre-sale that included free TCU tuning when you bought the pulley and ECU tune. It just showed up last week and I installed yesterday.

Kickem

chawkins: Great advice, no doubt! I'll just keep an eye on it and if it starts to show any signs of fatigue or failure I'll just put the original pulley back on and call it "lesson learned"

Kickem

Your pulley ended up getting stuck to the clutch? I guess that's a pretty good sign it needs to be shimmed... I ran mine a couple hours yesterday and then checked it when I got home and it seems like it may have tightened up a bit but the engine was still warm and that may have contributed to it as well. I'll go check it again this morning and see. My original pulley had 3 shims and I put all three back on when installing the new one but maybe I should get in touch with shardul and get a couple extra coming so I don't end up waiting on them when I need them.

Thank you for the feedback!

Toadster

and I'm willing to agree that Jerry wouldn't sell it if it wasn't solid

04chase

i plan to do mine next weekend along with h/e and pump . im definately a diy'er and have a good bunch of tools . hoping this goes pretty easy but after reading instruction inlcuded with the pulley it mentions raising the motor and a few other things i havent seen mentioned in here. mine came with 2 shimms so hopefully i will have enough depending on how many are on it now.

pearlpower

Sine you are new to this, with all due respect to Jerry, even he has gone through growing pains. You do know what assume means, right?

Problem is that the two many have issues with will back up their products-to a small degree. But when thousands $$ are on the table- that is the difference between buying behind the scenes vs through Jerry or similar. A search here will reveal many 'reputable' shops that have gone bye bye once a major incident occurs.

That stated,reiterate, this piece looks good.

pearlpower

You do not need to raise the motor. A good real impact gun with real torque and solid extensions is all you need. Have done 3 OEM pulleys so far. Easy if you have the right tools, PITA otherwise.

Helli217

Not everyone's comes off like that. I hit mine hard as hell with a 3/4 impact @ 150 psi and it still wouldn't budge. I had to do the good ole Breaker bar with jack handle cheater and my pulley strap wrench on the clutch. It was ON there. There has been a few others with the same outcome. Mine had almost sheared the dowel pins and slightly oblonged the holes on the washer and it still wasn't moving.

It took me one try and some nut on the breaker bar and it came free...after 30 minutes of screwing with an impact.

I was using an Ingersoll 258.